Many handicapped people, especially those suffering from cerebral palsy, require special adaptive chairs. For those who are severley involved, an adaptive chair may provide one of the only means for sitting upright. Adaptive chairs may have various supports attached to them which serve to hold the person in an upright sitting position.
These adaptive chairs may be mobile, and several mobile chairs have been adapted for use as a stroller and as a car seat. An example of such a chair is shown in Gaffney U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,867. The Gaffney patented chair has front casters which are relatively close together. These casters are supported by a narrow leg of the chair frame extending downwardly and forwardly from the front of the chair seat. The rear wheels are spaced father apart for stability, and they are mounted to the chair frame by a telescoping tube mechanism so that they can be retracted upwardly out of the way to permit the chair seat to rest on the seat of a car. Further, the telescoping tube mechanism can be expanded and retracted to effect a change of the seating angle for use outside the car from a generally upright position to one in which the seat back is reclined.
The Gaffney patented chair has certain disadvantages. The front casters do not track properly at all seating angles. The chair may be difficult for a small attendant to put into a car because one leg must be used to retract the rear wheels while the chair is held above the ground and because the entire weight of the chair and patient must be lifted. Once in a car, the retracted rear wheels may be pressed against the car seat and may damage or stain it. Additionally, the needs of a handicapped patient may change over time. For example, a patient will grow requiring different dimensional parameters for the chair and may become strong enough to self propel a chair with handgrips on the rear wheels. A child or small patient may also develop enough coordination to operate a joystick type controller for a motor driven chair. The Gaffney patented chair cannot be adapted to meet these changing needs.
Another form of adaptive chair serving both a stroller and car seat function is shown, for example, in Mulholland U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,126 and in the Mulholland Company literature. The Mulholland mobile chair includes a chair frame mounted in adjustable, cantilevered fashion to a base. The Mulholland chair frame includes a front leg that can be placed on the floor of a car when the chair frame is tilted and the base extends under the car. The chair frame is then released from the base and pivoted into the car, and the base may be stored in the trunk. The Mulholland chair is bulky and rather difficult to use and is not readily adaptable to either a motorizedbase or a large wheel base.